Matthew 17, 1 and following,
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, John his brother,
bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. And whilst transfigured
before them, his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was
white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter
and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here, if
thou will, let us make here a free tabernacle. one for thee, one
for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spoke, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice out of the cloud,
which said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And when the disciples
heard it, they fell on their face and were sure afraid. And Jesus came and touched them
and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. And as they came down from
the mountain, Jesus charged them saying, tell the vision to no
man until the Son of Man is risen again from the dead. Again, we are blessed in this
passage of the Scripture and this incident in that, again,
there are three accounts of this event in the Gospel. Matthew
and Mark and Luke all make a record of the transfiguration of our
Lord. Matthew is in chapter 17, Mark
is in chapter 9, and Luke is in chapter 9 also. Now, by bringing them all together,
We can therefore get a fuller picture, more of the events of
that occasion, and make an impression upon us, and find out the impression
upon those that witnessed it on that day. It is one of those
things experienced by the Lord but one time. But once was our
Lord transfigured while He were upon the earth, that he was born
one time, he died one time, he was buried but one time in the
grave, he was transfigured also but one time during his ministry. And that transfiguration did
not occur out in the general public gaze where it might be
seen by the multitude. It was not even by the whole
body of the disciples or of the apostle, but this was a rare
and blessed privilege experienced only by three of them. And even they were commanded,
don't tell this until the Son of Man is risen again from the
dead. So if we might, let's try to
set the scene that our imagination might be able to visit it in
our mind. This, I believe, followed a few
days after an announcement of the Lord that He would be put
to death, He would die, and that He would rise again after the
third day. And from that point on, We read
in the scripture, quote, Jesus began to show unto his disciple
how he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders
and of the chief priests and the scribe, and be killed, and
be raised again on the third day. Matthew chapter 16 and verse
21. When Peter heard that, impetuous
Simon Peter, he took offense at hearing that the Lord would
be betrayed, shamefully treated, and put to death. And so he rebuked
the Lord, and he said unto his Lord, By no means shall this
happen unto you, not at all. Matthew 16 and verse 22. A few days later, the Lord goes
to a separate place of Mount, as it is called, taking with
Him only three of the apostles. Now, as He prayed, Luke 9, verse
29, He was transfigured before their very eyes and there was
a grand display of glory in the person of our Lord and both Moses
and Elijah appeared there in the Mount with them, and they
spoke with the Lord concerning his death, that he would die."
More on the actual transfiguration shortly, but first of all, a
few words about those privileged three apostles that always seem
to be, as it were, the inner circle of our Lord, and witnesses
to extraordinary events and sayings of our Christ. And those three
are, as you know, Peter and James and John. These were witnesses
are the only witnesses to the Lord's works on several occasions,
such as Mark 5 and verse 37. He took with Him on that occasion
these same three as He went to Jairus' house, went into the
bedroom, and raised His 12-year-old daughter to life again. Again
in Mark 14 and verse 32 and 33, He selected these same three
men to go with Him a little further in the garden on the eve of His
death. And of course, the transfiguration,
the same three are there. Now in addition, enlisting the
twelve apostles, they are mentioned first most often, Matthew 10
and 2, and Mark Luke's account 6 and verse 14. Now there's something interesting
in the Gospel of Mark chapter 3 verse 16 and 17 in that the
Lord gives sure names to all of these three. He surnamed Simon
Peter. And James and John he called
Bogonegis. That is, Sons of Thunder is how
he called them. What's more, Paul in Galatians
chapter 2 And verse 9 refers to these three as, quote, those
who seemed to be pillars in the church, unquote, in Jerusalem. Now, tis a question of interest,
maybe, to our mind. Why three? Why these three? Why the number at three? Why
not less or why not more? Why not just one for that matter? Why not all of the twelve apostles
that their faith might be strengthened? as they see this glorious event. Could it be that the Lord is
conforming to that principle set forth in the law requiring
multiple witnesses to any event that it might be legal? That
there should be two or three witnesses upon every occasion
when some legal event was to transpire. But this has given
strong emphasis in the Scripture, causing Thomas Manton to say,
quote, so great an action as this needed value and reliable
testimony, unquote. And they got it from these three.
Still the Lord made it clear. They were to keep this secret
until after the resurrection. They were not to run out and
publish what they had seen immediately. Now in Matthew 17 and 9, Mark
9 and 9, and Luke 9 and 36, and they kept it close and told
no man in those days any of those things that they had seen. That is, they kept silent about
it, though it must have challenged them to keep such a secret, and
reported to none what they had seen until after the resurrection. But Peter writes about this in
2 Peter 1 and verse 18. And there, in verse 16 through
18, he gives an account of it saying, verse 16, we were eyewitnesses
of His majesty. Verse 17, a voice we heard from
the excellent glory that appeared that day. In verse 18, the voice
came from heaven when we were with Him yonder in the mount. So Peter gives an eyewitness
account of this transfiguration. But now to come and consider
the transfiguration itself. Only Luke it is that mentions
in chapter 9, verse 28 and verse 29, that Jesus' transfiguration
followed or occurred while he were praying or at prayer. Matthew 17 and 2, Mark 9 and
2 say He was transfigured, and then they give some of the manifestations
that appeared as our Lord was transfigured. In Mark 9, verse
29, He has it like this, the fashion of His countenance was
changed. What a thing is that for them
to see. The countenance of our Lord was
altered. And if we might, let's glean
every detail available to us in the three Gospels, putting
them together. Matthew 17 and 2, His face did
shine as the sun and His raiment was white as light. Mark 9 and 3 said, His raiment
became exceedingly shiny, white as snow, so as no fuller on earth
could dress it or white them. Now the word fuller seems to
refer to a cloth dresser in its original meaning, a launderer
of cloth, a bleacher as it were, and the clothes of our Lord were
so bright and gleaming that not a fuller on earth could have
made it more so. Luke 9, 29, His rain was white
and glistening. Yet we're not to think that the
glory ascribed here proceeded in any way from the material
garments that our Lord had owned. The emanating glory was from
the Lord Himself inside of those garments. And it permeated and
it penetrated even through the garments that it was so bright
they could hardly endure it. Matthew 17 and 2, His face did
shine like the sun. It must have been a sight. The
flesh of His face, it glowed with the brightness of the sun,
greater than that of Moses when he came down again from the mount
with the law. Now it would seem that the mention
here of the face of our Lord being like the sun is certainly
to be understood as a hyperbole. That is, it is a figure of speech
to emphasize the greatness and the brightness of the shining. What else is there to compare
for brightness with the sun in the sky? Being the brightest
thing that we can even imagine, when we want to give an emphasis,
a heavy emphasis we say, bright as the noonday sun. But it was
not just his face that shone or that glowed, but his whole
body or his whole being, a brightness that radiated out and beyond
the garments that he had upon his back, so that they might
be impressed with the degree of the brightness and of the
glory. Now, the Lord's transfiguration
here was not a permanent condition. And by that I mean it lasted
only for a time, how long I could not tell. And then the Lord came
down, reverted back, to his usual appearance, appearing among men
as he had before, that of a man, in the image of a man, and all
took him to be so." Now, let's get into it. What is this transfiguration? How did it occur? What caused
it? What is the significance of it? Are some interesting questions
for us to consider. Now, a transfiguration. To transfigure
is from the word metem or phuo, which means to change, Forms. It means to have a change of
form. In fact, it is put from two words,
meta, that is change, and morphe, the form. So that the form of
our Lord was changed. That's why Luke says, the fountain,
or the fashion rather, of his countenance was altered. We would say in English, the
appearance of his face changed, it became for a while different
In that, where it had not before, now it glowed exceedingly bright,
which was contrary to his normal appearance for the time that
he had been among them. All of a sudden, on the mount,
our Lord's body emanated a brightness, a glory that had not been loosed
before while He had been in the flesh. It was such a brightness
as permeated His clothes as if they were irridated by the brightness
of the light that we might be able to imagine. The one that
Isaiah described as having no beauty to cause one to desire
Him, in Isaiah 53 and 2, the one with no form or calmliness
outwardly that caused men to desire Him, now for a time glows
with a brightness that challenges the very brightness of the sun
in the sky. Now, the next question is, how
did it occur? What caused it? Now, it was not
some phenomenon of nature. We dismiss that immediately,
completely, and forever. Not some phenomenon of nature. It had nothing to do with that
mountain or that place, that it was a place where you could
go and begin glowing. It was not a magnetic field,
rather it was, as Thomas Goodwin called it, a manifestation of
Christ's personal glory, unquote. And it was both intentionally
and extensively displayed not for the Lord's sake only, but
for the sake of those disciples. It was the very divine nature
that dwelt in our blessed Lord. It was that great divine nature
shining through His human nature. Yes, the fullness of the Godhead
dwelt in Him bodily. As one commentator put it, it
was glory breaking forth in Him which He had with the Father
before the world, being largely veiled in His flesh. But upon occasion such as this,
He is able to let loose a blast of His divinity and of His eternal
glory. It is the glory that dwelt in
Him, even as the God-man, and therefore was put on display. Now, both John and Peter, who
with James experienced the transfiguration of the Lord, wrote of it, John
1, And verse 14, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Then, in a parenthesis, we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and of truth. You compare 1 John chapter 1,
verse 1, you'll see it again. 2 Peter 1, 16-18, we've already
referred to. We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. And that at Christ, at that time,
received honor and glory from the Father. And the voice out
of the clouds said, This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him. Hear Him. hear what he has to
say. Then the next question would
be, what then is the significance of the transfiguration? Why this
transfiguration that occurred but one time and for a short
time and only before three, five, and counting the two who appeared
there. What is the theological and the
practical significance of that which occurred this day on the
Mount of Transfiguration? Well, theologically, it confirms
that the Lord, it confirms rather the Godhood of our blessed Lord
Jesus. It confirms the divinity of our
Lord. None had seen that before but
the three were so privileged and glad. It confirms the divinity
of our Lord and I think in two instances or ways that we might
mention. Number one, the great display
of glory in Him that day. He had glory with the Father
before the world. He has glory now that He returned
to the right hand of the Father. But then that great glory that
let loose that day from our Lord. Secondly, the Father's testimony
regarding Him. The Father would not keep silent. The Father did not keep quiet. He gave testimony. This is My
beloved Son. This is not the only time that
that occurred, but it occurred here as well. This is My beloved
Son. Listen unto Him. Practically,
we want to look at the value of it. It made, I guess we would
agree, a lasting, never-dying impression on the three whom
the Lord favored with seeing and with hearing. Certainly,
it was a thing they would never forget, never in all of their
lives. They would never forget it. It
would live in their hearts as long as they lived in the world. They would, in their mind, live
it over again and again, and no doubt refer unto it. For it
served to confirm unto them their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a boost it must have been
to the faith of those three. This holy secret, though, had
to burn in them until they could set it free when the Lord had
granted them to do so. The Lord had bridled them for
a season concerning it. Then He rose from the dead. This was a secret hard to keep. Luke 9 and verse 36 said, they
kept it closed, told no man what they had seen. Who could sit
upon such a secret? I remember another time when
the Lord healed some people and He said, look, don't go tell
anybody about it. But they couldn't help themselves,
and they went right away and began to tell the wonderful things
the Lord had done. But the disciples were obedient
unto the Lord. Now this is another part of this
wonderful event that might seem to pale in the light of the transfiguration
of our Lord. That is the appearance of Moses
and Elijah. Again, all three of the Gospels
include the account of their appearance, of them being there
for a while, and of them even conversing with the Lord. The
evangelist is very dogmatic about it. There appeared unto them,
and were conversing with Jesus, two men talking, Moses and Elijah. And Luke 9.31 said, They appeared
in glory. and they spoke of his decease,
that is, of his death that should occur yonder at Jerusalem. And so we know the appearance
in glory, with glory, and also they, Moses and Elijah spoke
with the Lord. So then what could be the significance
of the appearance of these two? Two eminent saints from long,
long ago. Both went out of the world in
a unique way. I'll say that as a hint. Both
of these men went out of this life and this world in a unique
way. As for Moses, he died before
the Lord, not before the eyes of any of the people. He died
before the Lord, who buried his body in a secret place, Deuteronomy
34, verse 5 and verse 6. And then Elijah, like Enoch before
him in Genesis 5, 24, was caught up alive. He was raptured out
or snatched out or caught out alive. I like to say that he
leaped over the grave. He did not leave this world by
means of death. In 2 Kings chapter 2, he went
up in a chariot of fire into the heaven itself. Both of them
therefore left the world in an unusual way. Then both of them
appear at the transfiguration of the Lord centuries later,
and they do so in glory. and are able to carry on a conversation
with the Lord. In Luke 9 and verse 31, they
spoke, as I said, of His decease, which He should accomplish at
Jerusalem. Now, deceased is literally exodus
or departure. Peter uses the word to describe
his very own death, exodus or departure, in 2 Peter 1 and verse
15. And it is in Hebrews 11 and verse
22, of the departing or exodus, the going out of the land of
Egypt. Now, of course, the Lord and
the two were discussing the death that Christ would die, which
he would accomplish in Jerusalem in a certain way. So now the
question is, how is it that these two men Moses and Elijah, who
had already passed through the veil, should have an interest
in the coming death of our Savior. Why not the holy angels desiring
to look in? Moses entered by death and Elijah
by rapture into heaven. And here they are speaking of
what? Speaking of the death of our
Lord. Both of these men were very faithful
servants of God. Both of them served God well.
Moses delivered Israel out of Egypt and was a mediator, an
intercessor, and a guide unto them. Elijah restored the law,
brought reformation among the people. Moses faced Pharaoh,
Elijah faced Ahab, the enemies of God. Moses, who once stood
before that burning bush out in the desert, was not consumed,
now sees a greater light than he saw at the burning bush. Yet
neither he nor any others were consumed by the glory of the
sight upon the mount." There is a powerful Lesson here for
the privileged three, Peter and James and John. Though their
eyes were heavy with sleep, for here the two most revered servants
of God from the past appearing in the midst of the glory of
our Lord's own transfiguration. What is the subject discussed
again there in the midst of such glory? Why, it is the Lord's
death that they discuss, His most glorious hour, an exhibition
of His personal glory. Yet there is a conversation concerning
His death. Shall such a glorious one indeed
be brought and put to death in weakness and in shame? Now, the discussion of His coming
death in Jerusalem serves to refocus His followers. John Brown wrote, quote, that
a dying Messiah is the great article of the true Jewish theology,
unquote. This is what the prophets spoke
about and what they predicted. They'd lost sight of the fact
that Messiah was to die an awful death upon the cross. And as
a result of neglect of this central article of the prophets and of
the faith, the death of Messiah, even the disciples and the apostles
thought of Him upon an earthly throne rather than nailed yonder
unto the cross. Even after His death, In Acts
1 and 6 they wondered if after resurrection He would restore
again the kingdom unto Israel. Two of these men had made application
to sit one on one side and one on the other hand of our Lord
in His kingdom. In Mark chapter, Matthew 20,
21, Mark 10 and verse 37. Joseph Hall, who wrote the book
Contemplation, wrote in that book, the throne of David was
so soon in their eyes that they could not see the cross for it. Unquote. The conversation of
Moses and Elijah confirmed that Messiah was indeed to die. Their conversation was about
that death. His death was declared so many
types, so many shattered by so many prophets, and in the written
scripture, He's the Passover Lamb, He's the yearly atonement,
He's the serpent, one lifted up like the serpent was lifted
up on the pole. The prophets such as Isaiah,
chapter 53, declared his suffering and death. And yet, that kind
of talk offended his apostle and his follower, so much so
that Peter rebuked him and said, Lord, it shall never be. Now,
let's draw some practical and theological conclusions from
these texts and from the event that we have read of today. First
of all, it destroys the idea and puts the lie to the contention
of those that teach that the Lord put off or lay aside His
divine attributes in His incarnation. There are those called the kenosis. There are those who say that
our Lord completely emptied Himself and lay aside His divinity and
lay aside His divine attribute when He became incarnate in the
flesh. How can such a divine person
shed their divinity. How in the world can one of the
Godhead shed their divinity, their divine nature, or their
attribute? Their main proof text might be
Philippians 2 and verse 7. He emptied himself, the apostle
wrote there. He took the form of a man and
yet he retained the fullness of his deity, though veiled in
the flesh His great glory essentially and forever. And yet in the transfiguration
He let it loose so that there it is evident and present. Again, it gives us a lesson concerning
the departed saints of God. that they are not destroyed or
annihilated out of existence. They are with the Lord. Neither are they unconscious,
neither are they inactive. Their souls are not asleep and
they're not unaware of the other world, not even the Old Testament
saints. There is existence, a conscious
awareness after their exodus out of this body and out of this
life. Death does not bring an end to
our existence, not even after century. Elijah on the Mount
is what Thomas Manton called, quote, a pledge of the glory
of the world to come, unquote. Here is a little foretaste of
coming glory, when the brightness of our blessed Jesus will fill
heaven and His glory will never, never wane. Practically, we can
catch another glimpse of the impetuousness of Simon Peter. Peter, always hasty to come to
some conclusion, always ready to give an opinion. He more than
any other disciple or apostle gave advice or tried to give
advice to the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone has joked Peter could
sleep anywhere, and he usually fell asleep during our Lord's
great, great hour. He awakened at the glory of the
Lord. Two men were there talking with
our Savior. And Peter, not knowing what to
say, so struck with amazement at the sign and recognizing,
no doubt, Moses and Elijah, that he's going to do something. He
started a building program. He said, Let's erect three tabernacles
here in this place, three tents or monuments as we might call
them." He didn't even realize what he was saying, Mark chapter
9 and verse 6. So enraptured was he at the sight. He knew not what to say, for
they were afraid at what they had seen, Mark 9 and 33, not
knowing what he said even. what then will be the wonder
when the saints behold Him face to face in all of His glory. Now this glory may have lasted
only a short time, but the Lord gave them a double blessing to
impress upon them the things that they had heard and had seen. Number one, a cloud enclosed
them around about. They were in it. They were in
a cloud, Matthew 17 and 5 calls it a bright cloud. Mark 9, 7,
it overshadowed them. Luke 9 and 34, they feared as
they entered the cloud. The second thing, a majestic
voice, a voice no doubt very, very impressive, out of the cloud
and saying, this is my son, hear him, listen to him. Now an imprint,
I repeat, was put on their minds that they would never forget
or outlive. Then the great manifestation
ended. The clouds lifted. Moses and
Elijah vanished and went back wherever they were. The voice
silenced and spoke no more and they saw none but Jesus only
there with them on the mountain. They kept in the matter. But
what was secret then is now to be told far and wide. Our Lord displayed His great
glory while He were in His body, in the flesh, in this world. Consider, in closing, how many
great events took place with our Lord upon a hill or upon
a mount. The giving of the law, the sermon
on the mount, the transfiguration, and others in the scripture.
Upon a mount did our Lord many times bless the people who gathered
there to see and to hear. Our blessed Lord transfigured. Is there any doubt This is very
God in the flesh. God manifests in the flesh. So great was the glory of that
occasion.